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- A major difference between the U.S. and other countries is that the U.S.
is a nation of immigrants
- Political socialization is the process by which parents and others teach
children about the values, beliefs, and attitudes of a political culture
- Geography and national identity:
- Geographically large and isolated country
- Alexis de Tocqueville-no great wars, no invasions or conquest (Democracy
in America) The primary focus of Democracy in America is an analysis of
why republican representative democracy has succeeded in the United
States while failing in so many other places.
- Manifest destiny- a divine mission to subdue the whole of N. America, by
force if necessary, allotted by Providence
- Abundant natural resources
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- Period: 1820-1860
- In 1845 John L. O'Sullivan, editor of the Democratic Review, referred in
his magazine to America's "Manifest Destiny to overspread the
continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly
multiplying millions." One of the most influential slogans ever
coined, "manifest destiny" expressed the romantic emotion that
led Americans to risk their lives to settle the Far West.
- The idea that America had a special destiny to stretch across the
continent motivated many people to migrate West. The very idea of
manifest destiny encouraged men and women to dream big dreams. "We
Americans," wrote Herman Melville, one of this country's greatest
novelists, "are the peculiar, chosen people--the Israel of our
time."
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- Manifest destiny inspired a 29-year old named Stephen F. Austin to talk
grandly of colonizing the Mexican province of Texas with "North
American population, enterprise and intelligence." It led
expansionists, united behind the slogan "54° 40' or fight!,"
to demand that the United States should own the entire Pacific Northwest
all the way to the southern border of Alaska.
- Aggressive nationalists invoked the idea to justify Indian removal, war
with Mexico, and American expansion into Cuba and Central America. More
positively, the idea of manifest destiny inspired missionaries, farmers,
and pioneers, who dreamed only of transforming plains and fertile
valleys into farms and small towns.
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- The South remains the most distinct but becoming less so
- The New England Puritan spirit
- The West-individualism, hostility to government intervention
- The sun belt-gained seats in U.S. Congress
- State and Local identity
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- Four kinds of places:
- Central cities
- Suburbs
- Small communities
- Rural areas
- Effects of migration to the suburbs
- Tax base of the city declines
- Services needs in the city increases
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- Ethnicity is a social division based on national origin, religion, and
language
- African Americans: 13 percent of
the population.
- Hispanics: 19 percent of the
population.
- Asians: 5.4 percent of the
population.
- Native Americans: 1.8 percent of
the populations.
- Hispanics/Latinos are not a monolithic group
- Cuban Americans tend to vote for Republicans (upper-middle income
levels)
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- Non-Hispanic whites, who are two-thirds of the population today, are
older, dying off faster and producing fewer children than other groups.
- The Hispanic population is projected to triple by 2050, when it will be
nearly a third (133 million) of the population.
- Non-Hispanic whites will drop below 50 percent of the population as
early as 2042.
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- The black population is projected to increase by just 1 percentage
point, from 14 to 15 (66 million) in 2050.
- At that point, Hispanics will outnumber blacks by two to one.
- The Asian population will grow from 5 to 9 percent (41 million) by 2050
- American Indians and Alaska Natives are projected to rise from 1.6
percent to 2 percent (9 million)
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- Differences between men and women in public opinion and voting is
referred to as the gender gap
- Among college graduates ages 25 to 34,women earn an average of 80 cents
for every dollar earned by men
- Sixty-four percent more women than men work at or below the minimum
wage.
- Men and women do not earn comparable wages even when education levels
are equivalent.
- Head of household
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- The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
- intended to guarantee equal rights under the law for Americans
regardless of sex
- adopted by the House on October 12, 1971
- by the Senate on March 22, 1972
- a seven-year deadline for ratification by the required three-quarters of
the legislatures (38 legislatures).
- a total of 35 of the required 38 states had ratified
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- Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., (2007)
- that employers are protected from lawsuits over race or gender pay
discrimination if the claims are based on decisions made by the employer
180 days ago or more.
- Supreme Court said that "she could have, and should have,
sued" when the pay decisions were made, instead of waiting beyond
the 180-day statutory charging period.
- Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act(2009)
recovery of damages for sex-based pay discrimination, closing loopholes
in employer defenses, protecting employees who share salary information
from retaliation, and improving the government’s ability to collect data
and enforce our equal pay laws.
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- Roughly 5 percent of Americans identify as either gay (a homosexual
male), or lesbian (a homosexual female).
- Vermont permits same-sex couples to form ‘civil unions’.
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- “Traditional family” has changed due to “cohabitation”
- Absence of an official American church
- Wealth and income-Education the way to achieve economic/social mobility
- Aside from race, income is the most important factor in explaining views
on issues, partisanship, and ideology
- Occupation-post industrial society-the information age, knowledge is the
key
- Age-graying of America
- Life-cycle effects: a. middle aged-politically conservative, less
mobile, and more likely to participate in politics b. people age further
and rely more on the government for services, they tend to grow more
liberal
- Generational effects-Great Depression, JFK, Vietnam War,
Watergate,9-11-01
- Education-linked to citizenship and civic virtue
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Notes
